Ambition, Adaptation & Reaction

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The N-Gage gets its second wind. Our report from the Backstage with N-Gage conference.

By Adam Tierney

Nokia's entrance into handheld gaming has been a bit of a bumpy ride so far. A beast in the cell phone industry, the company pulled a Microsoft and decided to enter the general gaming arena last year with their N-Gage game deck. Although the unit had all the features of Nokia's best phones, it was initially marketed more to the console crowd than the wireless one.

While incredibly impressive with respect to visuals -- the GBA-sized unit could play games like Tony Hawk and Tomb Raider with as much clarity as the PSX originals -- a few issues with system design, practicality and a simple lack of available titles brought into question whether the system could actually find a strong user base. After all, nearly every new competitor to the handheld market has brought more to the table with regard to specs and capabilities than Nintendo, yet somehow systems like NeoGeo Pocket, Lynx and GameGear all fell by the wayside. And new handheld competitors like the Tapwave Zodiac have seemed to stall since their launch.

N-Gage buyers had problems with system's bulky design, the fact that you had to open the system and remove the battery to change games and of course the infamous side-talking snafu. While no one was questioning the system's capabilities, the practicality of the unit and the notion that many of the initial games were difficult to play with regard to controls and field of vision were prominent issues.

Rather than give up or simply try to force players to get used to the problems, however, Nokia responded fast and effectively, releasing the N-Gage QD a scant 10 months after the original system's launch. Smaller and sleeker, the QD also included easier access to N-Gage features like the Arena, as well no more side-talking and a slot to switch games. They had responded to fan complaints with incredible speed, especially compared to something like the Game Boy Advance, where Nintendo took two years to offer a replacement that fixed the dark screen problem. But is it enough to keep Nokia in the handheld game?

A two-day press conference was held earlier this week for about 50 journalists from the world over, to explain what's on the near horizon for Nokia's N-Gage, preview some titles and explain how with the QD, they've also modified their approach of the market. Read to find out what we took from the conference, as well as some previews, screenshots and impressions from several upcoming titles.

The Conference

"Backstage with the N-Gage" took place September 13-14 in Vancouver, Canada, one of the most prominent development locations outside of San Francisco and Japan. The first issue addressed is that the N-Gage user base has grown considerably over the last year. While initial rumors put launch sales as low as 5,500 units globally, Nokia says it has shipped 1 million N-Gages worldwide, predominantly to wireless-strong areas such as Europe, although sales in the US are actually seeing the most rapid growth currently.

To match this growth, the company has ramped up its game development with 40 titles debuting in and around this holiday season, for a total of 50+ titles within a few months' time. Internet interest in the N-Gage has grown considerably, with a recent demo of anticipated title Pathway to Glory receiving over 20,000 downloads within the first few days and the N-Gage Arena, Nokia's web of interactivity, currently sports over 50,000 users.

The Audience

The difficulty lies in how Nokia approaches the market. The company doesn't want the N-Gage to be seen as just another phone, however at the same time it doesn't want a blunt comparison to systems like the GBA, because those phone abilities are an advantage. Thus Nokia has had to cater to a new audience, somewhere in between the handheld and wireless markets. So what does the company have that will allow them to take this new market?